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Funding issues

Since a major source of funding is received through USAID, the show has been vulnerable to politics. Its 2012 season was suspended, when the United States government's $200 million in funding for Palestine was frozen; $40 million was restored in December, but none of that included USAID's funds to the program.
Executive producer Daoud Kuttab talked to Associated Press about the issue, noting that "If we don't do the curriculum workshop we can't do the scriptwriting. If we don't do the scriptwriting we can't do the filming, and there are actors who have their own schedules." Danny Labin, a producer of the Israeli counterpart, agreed that the event was unfortunate.
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In early 2012, local producers talked to the media about the show's pre-production being halted, as a result of the United States Congress cutting its funding.[3] As of mid-January, Kuttab was finding smaller grants to help the show continue.[2]

On January 24, Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota brought an Elmo toy to the House of Representatives floor, when urging the US government to refund Shara'a Simsim. He pointed to the alternative for children's programming, like Tomorrow's Pioneers, which features a Mickey Mouse imitator that encourages anti-Semitism and violence. (YouTube)[4]